In the recent case of In re Coonfield, 517 B.R. 239 (Bankr. E.D. Wash. 9.25.14), the court held that while the debtors could not require a lender to take title to real property, they did not need to divest themselves of the property in order rid themselves of...
Debtors file objections to claims all the time in Chapter 13 cases. However, rarely do they seek reimbursement of the monies received by the creditor after the objection is sustained. This practice should be reconsidered given the recent case of In re Thompson, __ BR...
Times were tough and you needed some extra cash. You saw an advertisement on TV for a Title Loan: No Credit Check! No Job Required! Up to $10,000 cash today! It was either pay the rent or get evicted, so you took your car down to the title loan store, got a few...
In the recent case of In Re Nadeau, 2014 WL 5325224 (Bankr. D. R.I. 10/17/14), the court granted the U.S. Trustee’s Motion to Dismiss the debtors’ Chapter 7 case on bad faith due to their purchase of a new vehicle just prior to filing their bankruptcy case. In the...
Under Section 109(e) of the Bankruptcy Code only individuals with unsecured debts of less than $383,175 and secured debts of less than $1,149,525 are eligible to file a Chapter 13 case. In the recent case of In re Kenneth Blackwell and In re Kathleen Blackwell, 2014...
In the recent case of In re Read, WL 4104736 (Bankr. E.D. Wis. 8/19/14), the court held that a debtor could not start contributing towards a 401K plan after she filed for Chapter 13. In this case the debtor filed her case in January, but started contributing towards...
In the recent case of Okke v. Okke, 2014 WL 3578599 (Bankr. W.D. Mich. 7.17.14), the debtor’s ex-wife was ordered to pay the debtor $500 in damages and $9,000 as reimbursement of the debtor’s attorney’s fee for her violation of the automatic stay. In this case the...
We have all seen the ads: “Last week only!” “Going out of business sale!” “Everything must go! “Bankruptcy liquidation sale!” It seems like some furniture and carpet stores, in particular, are perpetually going out of business or filing for bankruptcy. However, they...
In a recent case, Wheeler v. Collier, 2014 WL 2155213 (W.D. La. 5.22.14), the court awarded a total judgment in the amount of $50,000 against a Louisiana law firm for collecting fees from their client after the bankruptcy case was filed. The firm charged the debtor a...
When considering the pros and cons of filing for bankruptcy, many people are concerned about the social stigma of filing for bankruptcy. They worry that their names will be published in the newspaper or that they will loose their jobs if their employers find out about...